Apparatus for reducing the thickness of metal



Jan.- 27, 1970 K. SAX]. 3,491,572

APPARATUS FOR REDUCING THE THICKNESS 0F METAL Filed July 21, 19s? 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 27, 1970 K. SAXL 3,491,572 I APPARATUS FOR REDUCINGTHE THICKNESS OF METAL Filed July 21, 196? s Sheets-Sheet a jivuwrarz769652. QSKQXL' Ai 'PAn-A'wus FOR REDUCING THE THICKNESS 0F METAL FiledJuly 21, 196A? K. SAXL Jan. 27, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet S United StatesPatent O 3,491,572 APPARATUS FOR REDUCING THE THICKNESS OF METAL KarelSaxl, Sutton Coldfield, England, assignor to Imperial Metal Industries(Kynoch) Limited, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, a corporation ofGreat Britain Filed July 21, 1967, Ser. No. 655,122 Claims priority,application Great Britain, Aug. 11, 1966, 36,009/ 66 Int. Cl. B21b39/20, 31/20 U.S. Cl. 722S2 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to apparatus for reducing the thickness of metal.

Description of the prior art Apparatus for reducing the thickness ofmetal is known comprising a pair of oscillatable arms pivotally mountedupon a frame and having free ends which lie in closer relationship thanthe pivotal axes of the arms, these free ends having freely-rotatablework rolls mounted thereon for reducing the thickness of metal when thearms are synchronously oscillated.

In practice, it has been found necessary to provide guide means forguiding the metal as it leaves the machine. However, if conventionalguide means in the form of members having converging surfaces forengagement with the surfaces of the metal are employed, difliculty inguiding the metal arises because, as the arms oscillate during rolling,they move towards or away from the guide means so that there are gapsprovided between the guide means and the arms through which rolled metalmay pass to result in damage to the apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, apparatusfor reducing the thickness of metal comprises a frame, a pair ofoscillatable arms each pivotally mounted about an axis upon the framefor synchronous oscillation of the arms through a common plane in whichthe pivotal axes lie, and the arms having free ends which lie in closerrelationship than their pivotal axes, a freely-rotatable work rollmounted upon the free end of each arm, and guide means disposed on theoutput side of the work rolls on each side of a pass line for metal,each guide means comprising a guide member disposed on the frame and aguide member disposed upon an arm with parts of the guide member on theframe being closer to the common plane than parts of the guide member onthe arm during at least part of the oscillatory movement of the arms.

Preferably in each guide means, one guide member comprises at least oneguide element and the other guide member comprises a plurality of guideelements which are spaced apart in the axial direction of the workrolls,

the at least one guide element lying within a gap provided between thespaced apart elements during at least part of the arm oscillatorymovement. Alternatively, the guide members of each guide means extendtowards and overlap one another during arm oscillation.

In one preferred construction, a plurality of guide elements areprovided upon each guide member of each guide means. In this case atleast one of the elements of each guide member on the frame may be aguide roller, the guide rollers of the two guide members on the framebeing disposed in opposition, one on each side of the pass line forrolling engagement with the reduced metal. When a single guide rolleronly is provided for each guide member on the frame, the guide roller ispreferably disposed symmetrically with respect to the median radialplane of the work rolls. In this case other guide elements of the guidemember on the frame are a plurality of guide projections and the rollerand projections lie in mesh with guide projections of the guide memberon the arm. In a further construction, two guide rollers are provided asguide elements of the guide member on the frame together with the guideprojections, the guide rollers being located so as to be symmetricallypositioned one on each side of the median radial plane of the workrolls.

In another construction, the guide member on the frame is provided witha guide roller and two guide elements are provided upon the guide memberupon the arm, these two guide elements being spaced apart and receivingbetween them the guide roller during at least part of the armoscillatory movement.

In each of the above constructions in which the guide member on theframe comprises a guide roller or rollers, it is preferable that for atleast one guide means, positioning means are provided alternately formoving the roller towards the pass line and towards the roller of theother guide means to enable the rollers to grip reduced metal to assistin guiding it from the apparatus and for withdrawing the roller from thepass line so that the rollers do not grip the metal while it is beingmoved along the predetermined path. It is also preferable that theroller or rollers of at least one of the guide means is provided withdriving means so that the rollers may assist in drawing the reducedmetal from the apparatus.

In another construction, in each guide means, the guide elements on theframe consist wholly of guide projections.

The invention also includes metal which has been reduced in thickness byuse of apparatus according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One embodiment of the invention willnow be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevational view of apparatus for reducingthe thickness of metal, together with ancillary equipment;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view, partly in crosssection, of part ofthe apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view on line IIIIII of the apparatus ofFIGURE 2 showing three positions of part of a guide means of theapparatus;

' FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 of a modification of theembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT The apparatus as shown in FIGURES l to 3is basically of similar construction to that described in thespecification of our British Patent No. 889,662. This basic constructionwill now be described briefly, followed by a more detailed descriptionof the parts of the apparatus which relate to the present invention.

Briefly, therefore, with reference to FIGURE 1, the apparatus comprisesa pair of freely-rotatable work rolls 1 and 2 mounted upon the free endsof a pair of oscillatable arms 3 and 4, pivotally mounted upon a frame(not shown) for pivotal movement about parallel axes 5 and 6.

Driving means are provided for oscillating the arms in synchronism oneach side of their full outline positions 7, in which the arms lie onthe common plane which extends through their pivotai axes, the armsbeing oscillatable between limiting chain-dotted positions 8 and 9. Thedriving means comprises, in respect of each arm, a lever 10 pivotallymounted at ends 11 and 12, respectively, to the arm and to a crank 13 ofa crankshaft 14. The two crankshafts are drivable by a common drivemotor through gearing (not shown).

The apparatus will now be described in greater detail with reference toFIGURES 2 and 3.

As shown in the lower part of FIGURE 2, each work roll is provided withsupporting rollers 15, and as shown in the upper part of that figure,each work roll is also provided at each of its ends with a spacer 16 toresist movement towards each other of the work rolls when the rolls arelocated a predetermined minimum distance apart.

On each side of a pass line AA for metal passing through the apparatus,the apparatus is provided with a guide means 18 for ensuring that therolled metal is maintained substantially on the pass line as it issuesfrom the apparatus. As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, each guide meanscomprises guide members 19 and 20. The guide member 20 is secured to anarm 3 or 4, as the case may be, on the output side of the work rolis,while the guide member 19 is pivotally mounted to the frame, by its end21 remote from the arm, in a position adjacent the pass line AA. Theguide members are each provided at their free ends, with a plurality ofguide elements in the form of projections 22 (FIGURE 3) which arespaced-apart laterally of the predetermined path of movement of rolledmetal, i.e. in the axial direction of the work rolls. The projections ofthe guide member 19 are aligned with gaps 23 provided betweenspaced-apart projections of the guide member 20 so that during a metalreducing operation as the arms oscillate, the projections lie in mesh,as will be described. 7

Each guide member 19 also comprises a guide roller 24 which is rotatablymounted in bearings 25, the upper roller being driven by a coaxialdriving shaft 26' extending through bearing 25, the driving shaft beingdrivable by an endless driving belt 27 passing around a pulley wheel 28secured to the shaft and around another pulley wheel (not shown) securedto an electrically driven shaft 27a.

The two rollers of the guide members lie in opposition to one another oneach side of the pass line and are disposed symmetrically with respectto the median radial plane of the work rolls. Positioning means areprovided for moving the roller of each guide means towards the roller ofthe other guide means to grip the reduced metal as it leaves theapparatus. In respect of each guide means, the positioning meanscomprises two fluid-operated piston and cylinder assemblies 29 (seeFIGURE 2) which are pivotally mounted upon the frame and upon integralwebs 30 formed at the ends of the guide member 19, to effect and controlpivotal movement of the guide member about its pivoted end 21.

On the output side of the work rolls, a conveyor of freely rotatablerollers 31 is provided to convey reduced metal from the apparatus.

In operation, a strip 32 of metal (FIGURE 1), the thickness of which isto be reduce-cl, is fed between a pair of feed rollers 33 and through aheating chamber 34, and the heated strip is then fed between the pair offreely rotatable work rolls which act on opposite sides of the strip.The reduced strip is then passed over the conveyor rollers 31 (FIGURE 2)and between a pair of pinch rolls 4 35 (FIGURE 1) and a pair of guiderolls 36, and is wound upon a coiling drum 37.

As the leading edge of the strip is passed through the apparatus, theguide members 19 are held in their full outline positions by theassemblies 29, as shown in FIG- URE 2 so that the surfaces of thereduced leading edge of the strip are engaged by the rollers 24. Theupper roller 24 is driven by the driving belt 27 to assist in feedingthe leading edge of the reduced strip through the apparatus and onto theconveyor rollers 31. While the guide members 19 are held in their fulloutline positions, the projections 22 of the guide members of each guidemeans are continuously in mesh as shown in FIGURE 3. Oscillation of thearms results in movement of the projections 22 of the guide members 20but the projections of these members only move between limiting meshedpositions 22a shown in chain-dotted outline in FIGURE 3.

When the leading edge of the reduced strip has been fed onto theconveyor rollers 31, the assemblies 29 are operated to move the guidemembers 19 away from one another until they assume positions shown inchain-dotted outline in FIGURE 2. In this position, the projections 22of the guide members are no longer in mesh. However, in both of theabove described positions of the guide members 19, parts of theprojections 22 of these guide members continuously lie closer to thecommon plane of the pivotal axes of the arms 3 and 4, than parts of theprojections of the guide members 20. The members 20, therefore,continuously bridge the gap provided between the guide members 19 andthe arms to prevent reduced metal, which may wander from the pass lineAA, from passing through the gap.

In the above described embodiment, the guide members may, alternatively,be held continuously in their full outline positions shown in FIGURE 3and means may be provided for disconnecting the drive to the upperroller 24 to allow the upper, as well as the lower, roller to be freelyrotatable by passage of the strip along the pass line after the leadingedge of the strip has moved beyond the rollers. In this alternativemethod of use, therefore, the rollers continuously hold the reducedmetal strip substantially on the pass line AA to assist the guidemembers in guiding the strip.

In a modification of the above described embodiment, the upper roller 24is drivably connected to the driving shaft 26 by a sprag clutch (notshown) which allows the roller to be freely rotatable in the directionof rotation to assist the feeding of strip from the apparatus. In thisconstruction in the event that the leading edge of strip passing beneaththe upper roller is moving along the pass line AA at a speed greaterthan the peripheral speed of the roller while being driven by the belt27, then the frictional engagement of the strip with the rolier causesthe roller to rotate with a peripheral speed substantially equal to thespeed of movement of the strip. The provision of the sprag clutch,therefore, substantially eliminates any dragging action of the upperroller upon the strip in these circumstances.

In another modification as shown in FIGURE 4, each guide member '38 onthe frame is not provided with guide elements in the form of projectionsas described for the member 19 in the embodiment. In contrast the member38 comprises a guide roller 39 which lies with its axis parallel withthose of the work rolls. This guide roller is preferably drivable in amanner similar to that described for the rollers 24 of the firstembodiment. A guide member 40 on an arm provided for each guide meanshas two guide elements which are spaced-apart projections 41. Theseprojections receive between them the guide roller 39 during oscillationof the arms to reduce the thickness of metal strip. In use of thismodified construction, metal strip to be reduced in thickness by theapparatus must be sufitciently wide to ensure that the projections 41overlap or lie within the edges of the reduced strip.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for reducing the thickness of metal comprising a frame, apair of oscillatable arms each pivotally mounted about an axis upon theframe for synchronous oscillation of the arms through a common plane inwhich the pivotal axes lie, and the arms having free ends which lie incloser relationship than their pivotal axes, and a freely rotatable workroll mounted upon the free end of each arm, wherein the improvementcomprises a guide means disposed on the output side of the work rolls oneach side of a pass line for metal, each guide means comprising a guidemember disposed on the frame and a guide member disposed upon an arm,the guide member on the frame having parts thereof which are closer tothe common plane than parts of the guide member on the arm during atleast part of oscillatory movement of the arms.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein in each guide means, one guidemember comprises at least one guide element and the other guide membercomprises a plurality of guide elements which are spaced apart in theaxial direction of the work rolls to provide a gap, the at least oneguide element lying within the gap between the spaced apart elementsduring at least part of the arm oscillatory movement.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein, in each guide means, aplurality of guide elements are provided upon each guide member, atleast one of the elements of the guide member on the frame being a guideroller, the other elements of the guide member on the frame and theelements of the guide member on the arm being projections with theprojections and guide roller of the frame guide member lying in meshwith the projections of the other guide member during at least part ofthe arm oscillatory movement, and the guide rollers of the two guidemeans are disposed in opposition one on each side of the pass line forrolling engagement with reduced metal.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein, in each guide means, theguide member on the frame comprises a guide roller, and the guide memberon the arm comprises two guide elements which are spaced apart andreceive between them the guide roller during at least part of the armoscillatory movement.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein, for atleast one guide means,positioning means are provided alternately for moving the guide rollertowards the pass line and towards the guide roller of the other guidemeans to enable the rollers to grip reduced metal to assist in guidingit from between the work rolls, and for withdrawing its associated guideroller from the pass line.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein at least one of the guiderollers is provided with driving means so that the rollers may assist indrawing reduced metal from between the work rolls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,549,527 8/1925 Fielding 72-1891,810,886 6/1931 Neuberth 72189 3,103,139 9/1963 Saxl 72190 3,143,0108/1964 Saxl 72-240 FOREIGN PATENTS 227,219 1/ 1925 Great Britain.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner E. M. COMBS, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

